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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Health workforce shortage designations

Addressing Mental Health Workforce Needs in Underserved Rural Areas: Accomplishments and Challenges
Reviews efforts to address mental health workforce needs in underserved rural areas. Includes a history of federal efforts to address rural mental health workforce needs. Discusses Mental Health Professional Shortage Area (MHPSA) designations.
Author(s): Donna C. Bird, Patricia Dempsey, David Hartley
Date: 10/2001
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
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Health Care Shortage Areas: Designations Not a Useful Tool for Directing Resources to the Underserved
Discusses the Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) and Medically Underserved Area (MUA) designations and how well these designations help target federal resources to benefit those who are underserved.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 09/1995
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Tennessee Rural Health Dashboard
Dashboard providing state- and county-level data on rural access to care and rural health policy in Tennessee. Topics covered include rural definitions, poverty, insurance coverage, Federally Qualified Health Centers, Rural Health Clinics, and Healthcare Provider Shortage Area (HPSA) designations.
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Association of Tennessee
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Access to Health Care Services (Virginia)
Explores types of health care services and issues related to access in rural areas of Virginia. Includes state maps showing locations of Rural Health Clinics, Critical Access Hospitals, and Federally Qualified Health Centers. Features statistics on primary care, dental, and mental health providers obligated to serve in shortage areas as of 2020, and avoidable hospitalizations as of 2017, with breakdowns by urban and rural locations.
Sponsoring organization: Virginia Department of Health
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Designation Requirements for Selected Federal Programs
Shows HPSA and MUA/P designation requirements for the National Health Service Corps, Federally Qualified Health Center program, CMS Medicare Incentive Payment, CMS Rural Health Clinic program, and J-1 visa waivers.
Sponsoring organization: Alabama Public Health
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Wisconsin Primary Care Programs: Maps and Data
Provides information on Primary Care, Mental, and Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) in Wisconsin. Includes an interactive county-level map that shows geographic, high-needs geographic, and population based HPSAs.
Sponsoring organization: Wisconsin Department of Health Services
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Missouri Indicator Dashboards
Provides regional and county-level interactive data on Missouri's health workforce, community demographics, and citizen health status. Includes regional geographic profiles that provide a combination of indicator data, including Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs).
Sponsoring organization: Missouri Health Care Workforce Project
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Kansas Regional Data Portal
Provides county, regional, and statewide data on issues such as demographics, housing, business and industry, healthcare, quality of life, infrastructure, and natural resources. Includes information on healthcare workforce statistics, Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), number of hospital beds, income and poverty, education levels, broadband, and more.
Sponsoring organization: Kansas Institute for Policy & Social Research
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State of Georgia Medically Underserved Areas/Populations (MUA/P)
Map showing the Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs) and Medically Underserved Populations (MUPs) in Georgia by county.
Sponsoring organization: Georgia State Office of Rural Health
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State of Georgia Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas (MHPSA)
County-level map showing Georgia Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas by geographic area and partial county.
Sponsoring organization: Georgia State Office of Rural Health
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